NOT X BUT Y --- I really enjoy these Not X but Y constructions where the contrast is drawn between the connotations of the two terms under discussion. Once the premise is set, the speaker can then elaborate on the theme of, in this case, what he means by 'a cause'. Once again, an implied contrast with Trump is being made, for Trump's egocentrism would justify the claim that he was acting for himself, and that he saw his election s his personal victory.

Source author: Biljana Scott biscott@diplomacy.edu